Forty nine candidates belong to the United Russia Party, the largest group representing one party. Candidates hail from past (i.e. separatist) and present (i.e. Moscow-backed) governments as well as cultural and sports sections and include, for example, Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Moscow-backed Chechen government; Taus Dzhabrailov, chairman of the State Council of the Chechen Republic; Magomed Khambiyev, former Defense Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria; Ibragim Khultygov, head of National Security of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria; former deputies of the Ichkerian Parliament Magomed Gushakayev and Salambek Kunchalov; the singer Tamara Dadasheva; poets Sharip Tsuruyev and Umar Saiyev and the world famous wrestling champion, Khasan Ortsuyev.

Campaigning in the media began on October 29 and will continue for a month; elections are scheduled to take place on November 27.

There are almost 600,000 voters in Chechnya, which is organised into 429 electoral precincts.

The views expressed on this web site are the authors' own, and don't necessarily reflect the views of Prague Watchdog,which aims to present a wide spectrum of opinion and analysis relating to events in the North Caucasus.